Update: aight, I'm keeping it. Check out my new next gen audio rig 3000:
I cleaned it out and it seems to work fine. The drive belts seem okay: not dry, but maybe a little loose, although the BPM of the music sounds about right. I paid $50 for it.
I have no bloody idea why I'd need it or would want to keep it. I just wanted to try it out, knowing that the store's policy is "no questions asked" if I return it within 30 days. Also, retro is fun...?๐คฃ
It doesn't have a volume control because it's designed to go into a head unit, or I think you mentioned you had a mixer? That's fine too. It outputs at a standard level, but if you hacked a pair of earphones on to the output with special adapters, it'd be much too loud.
Ah, thanks! I've been wondering about this for so long! As in, why my vinyl record player doesn't have a volume knob. Mystery solved! ๐ฅฐ Yep, the sound (all of my sound) goes to my mixer, which has volume controls and some EQ, which in turn goes to active studio monitors, which have volume control too.
So you'll also find that both mixers and head units will have special inputs and ground posts for turntables, and that is because they output much lower levels, there's much less amplification built into those.
I bet you noticed that too, right?
Always rewarding to pass knowledge of the old ways to the new generation. Have fun! ๐
Make you some mixtapes!
Much obliged! ๐๐ I actually haven't noticed any grounding outlets, wires or other things on the mixer and the monitors, but the vinyl player does have a ground, which I haven't connected to anything, since... I'm lazy? Would it suffice to just ~~clip~~ connect it ~~against~~ to the nearby radiator, or the computer chassi that's just next to it? ๐ค
So, it's important to ground it because that's going to remove ground hum if you have it. But beyond that, in order for it to be grounded properly, you should ground it to your head unit or your mixer. If your mixer is grounded, then that's fine, that would work. Failing everything else, yeah, the nearby computer would probably work okay. But ideally, you want it grounded to the piece of equipment you've got it connected to. Incidentally, you'll know immediately if connecting it to the computer was a bad idea because if there's a difference in the ground voltage between your computer and your mixer, you will hear an immediate introduction of a humming noise or buzzing noise into the audio.
Either way, it's not really a safety issue, or shouldn't be, if you don't connect it to anything.